The Death of King Håkon VII
Even though German forces had experienced setbacks and defeats in the early days of the invasion it was clear that the Norwegian army could not hold the invading forces at bay. No more than a day after German forces had begun hostilities was an envoy sent in an attempt to negotiate a peace which would place the king as a Gemran puppet leader. After a no from both the king and parliment, it became appearent that the Germans had now given up on trying to peacefully crate a puppet state. German Fallschirmjäger chased the king and his entourage all the way to the Swedish border, as the royal family sought refuge in a farmstead near the border, Swedish borderforces reported their posistion to the Swedish government whom sent the information on to the Germans. This lead to an event that would change the course of history forever. The 12th of April, a day of sorrows. The 12th of April, 1943 As forward elements of the German invasion force started making their way towards Oslo after the sinking the heavy cruiser "Blücher" and the earlier capture of paratroopers attempting to take Fornebu airport. As the German forces made contact with HM Kongens Garde and the Oslo Kampvognregiment on the outskirts of Oslo, the royal family and the parliment was put on an evacuationtrain to Hamar. As the royal family and most importnat members of parliment was spending the night at a farmstead near the Swedish border where the crown princess and her children had crossed to seek safety with her familiy on the Swedish throne, forces from the Swedish border security had reported the wherabouts of the tops of Norwegian government to their commanders. The information moved quickly and within an hour the Swedish government and top brass had been informed. Sometime as night approached several Nazi oriented officers in the Swedish army and airforce brought the information to the German legation in Stockholm. Berlin quickly capitalized on this, at approximately 01.47 the first He 111 bombers took of in German occupied Denmark as part of the newly formed Luftflotte 5. Luftwaffe messages stated that the first bombs were dropped around 04.25, and the complete destruction of the farm and all it's buildings. The body of the King and Prime Minister Nygårsvold was found by search parties the following day. The Crown Prince Olav and President of the Parliament Hambro were found wounded and dazed but alive. The Aftermath On April 14th the NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting AS) anounced the deaths of the king and prime minister to the people of Norway. As these event were unfolding Gustav V of Sweden were dealing with problems of his own, by now he had been informed of the Swedish armed foreces role in the death of Haakon VII and Johan Nygårsvold. Feeling guilt for the death of the Norwegian head of state and figurehead, Gustav V announced on a radio broadcast that afternoon the role the Swedish military and nationalist party had had in the Luftwaffe bombings 2 days earlier. After Gustav V's radio broadcast waves of political fallout resonated throughout the northern countries, Sweden, a nation keeping itself neutral and out of conflict since the Great Northern War had it's armed forces torn between the nationalist and nazi officers and the few men remaining loyal to the king and government. As different political parties and minorities rose up in armed uprisings and witch hunts across Scandinavia, the Norwegian Parliment reconviened in Hamar. Spendning almost 2 whole days behind closed doors, President of Parliment Hambro announced over radio that as of April 17th former crown prince Olav IV would be inaugurated with the powers off both the king and Prime Minister. The last absoulute monarchies of Europe had been toppled after the Great War, and the last monarchs with any kind of power had been in the Balkans but now an almost absoloute monarchy had returned to the Scanidnavia. Still serving at the will of the parliment and not with absoloute power over political matters, the newly coronated King Olav V would act as head of state and supreme commander of the Armed Forces of Norway. The Shift The kings first major polical decision was to formally request membership in the Allied Nations, and ask for continued British and french support for the Norwegian Army now having set up a defensive line from Ålesund along major cities and infrastucture points to the Swedish border. As more Allied troops arrived in liberated Narvik and Trondheim, a joint Norvego-French naval landing would attempt to retake the occupied industrial zones east and west of the Oslofjord. Retaking the factories of The "Kampvogn" Project, and reinitializing Norways arms production was agreed upon as the top priority by the King and the Allied commanders in Scandinavia. 20th of May 1941, The Second Norwegian-Swedish war. As the Allied Nations were preparing to retake Norways industrial and population centres before the Germans could send sizable reinforcments across the Skagerakk - Norwegian forts had thanks to brave pilots form RAF Bomber Command been supplied to continue their shelling actions keeping German troop transports out of the Oslofjord - In a closed meeting between King Olav, King Gustav and General Sir Edmund Ironside an agreement was reached bewtween the Allied tops and the Swedish government in exile following Gustav creating a - - point list for the intervention in Sweden